UC Resolves Federal Civil Rights Complaints Involving Palestinians, Their Supporters’ Right to Protest

The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday that the University of California has resolved nine federal civil rights complaints of anti-Semitism and bias against Muslim, Arab and pro-Palestinian students stemming from protests over Israel's war on Gaza at five UC campuses.

The complaints alleged that UC administration, the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of California at San Diego, the University of California at Davis, and the University of California at Santa Cruz failed to respond promptly or effectively to harassment of their students based on their actual or perceived national origin and that some UC campuses subjected these students to differential treatment in access to university programs.

UCLA has been a hot spot, receiving more than 150 bias complaints about protests and rallies in October and November 2023, as well as reports of a large pro-Palestinian camp on campus during the spring. Reported incidents included chants of “Death to Israel” and “Intifada Now” and complaints that checkpoints at the camp denied entry to Jewish students who refused to denounce Zionism. Muslim, Palestinian-American, and pro-Palestinian students also reported unwanted photographing, searches, and being followed on and near campus by other students and members of the public. Many members of the pro-Palestinian camp were Jewish students who identified as anti-Zionist.

The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights said the violence at the UCLA camp against Jewish, Israeli-American and pro-Palestinian protesters was "particularly troubling."

Officials have pointed to allegations that UC, through campus police, failed to protect Palestinian, Arab and/or pro-Palestinian protesters as they were violently attacked, injured and intimidated by counterprotesters, including third parties. Last month, UC released an independent report from the Office of the Provost, which found a “chaotic” response by both administrators and campus police that led to a failure to protect students.

UC has agreed to take stronger steps to review reports of bias incidents, share campus responses with the federal Office for Civil Rights and obtain the Office’s approval for any changes to university policies related to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.

As part of the agreement, each campus must review all harassment complaints from the past two academic years and assess whether more needs to be done.

The Department of Education broadly defines the types of harassment it investigates on its website, including “insults, ridicule, stereotypes, or name-calling, as well as racially motivated physical threats, attacks, or other hateful behavior.”

The laws enforced by the Office of Civil Rights do not specifically address religious discrimination, but the administration said it investigates “complaints that students have been subjected to racial or ethnic slurs; harassed because of their appearance, dress, or speech in ways associated with their race or ethnicity (such as skin color, religious dress, or spoken language); or profiled based on perceived shared ethnic or ethnic characteristics.”

The administration cites Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Sikhs as among the groups that could be subjected to such harassment.

The University of California has also agreed to train staff, public safety personnel, and campus police officers responsible for handling such complaints.

“The University of California unequivocally rejects anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of harassment and discrimination,” the University of California said in a statement seen by Al-Quds.

“The University is pleased to announce that it has entered into a voluntary resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, reinforcing UC’s commitment to fostering a respectful and welcoming environment free from discrimination and harassment based on national origin. This agreement is part of the University’s ongoing efforts to combat discrimination and harassment based on national origin, including Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim origins, and/or association with these actual or perceived identities,” the statement said.

The agreement with the university follows similar agreements signed this year by Brown University and the University of Illinois, which also faced federal civil rights complaints related to protests sparked by Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, 2023. Dozens of other complaints stemming from protests and encampments on campuses across the United States remain open.

Although the University of California has reached an agreement with the federal government over civil rights complaints, it still faces additional legal challenges related to student and staff protests.

In October of this year, a group of pro-Palestinian students and faculty at UCLA filed a lawsuit in state court, alleging that the university violated their free speech rights when it cleared the spring camp and wrongfully disciplined them for protesting. The protesters, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, asked the court to bar UCLA police from declaring an “unlawful assembly” only when the demonstrations violate university policy — which limits the order to acts of violence or if protesters appear to be violating criminal laws.